The Challenge | |
---|---|
Directed by | John Gilling |
Written by | John Gilling |
Produced by | John Temple-Smith |
Starring | Jayne Mansfield and Anthony Quayle |
Cinematography | Gordon Dines |
Edited by | Alan Osbiston and John Victor-Smith |
Music by | Bill McGuffie |
Production company | Alexandra |
Distributed by | J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors (UK) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 101 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Challenge, released as It Takes a Thief in the United States, is a 1960 British neo noir crime film directed and written by John Gilling and starring Jayne Mansfield and Anthony Quayle. [1]
Billy Lacross is a ruthless gang leader who persuades Jim Maxton to take part in a big robbery. Maxton is shopped and convicted of the robbery. He serves his time, and returns home to his son. The gang want the money he buried but Maxton wants nothing more to do with it or them. The gang then kidnap Maxton's son and demand the money as ransom. There follows a race against time to save Maxton's son.
The film was shot in England from 12 October to around December 1959. Mansfield flew back to America on the 16th, after she finished filming.[ citation needed ]
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "This British excursion into violent crime owes something to an old Edward G. Robinson film, The Last Gangster [1937], but still makes very little impact. There are few thrills, and those of a mostly unpleasant nature, and the pace is sluggish and erratic. Admittedly the sight of Jayne Mansfield as the brains of a gang of thieves, doing the books by day in horn-rims and a black wig, slinking about in sequins by night and entertaining her guests with little songs, provides at least one good laugh. Otherwise the plot is a routine matter of assault and battery, police bafflement and small child appeal, its detail loosely contrived with some careless railway observation and no satisfactory explanation why the gang made a "fall guy" out of Jim." [2]
TV Guide wrote, "most of the actors, with the exception of Quayle, are pretty stiff, and the story is hardly inspired." [3]
Sky Movies noted, "filled with such familiar leading men of British 'B' features as Peter Reynolds, Edward Judd, Dermot Walsh and Patrick Holt. Some of the best moments, though, are provided by Hollywood's Jayne Mansfield as the criminal mastermind, demure in black wig and horn-rimmed glasses as she does her 'firm's' books by day, but slinking around in sequins by night with a smile and a song." [4]
The Great Train Robbery was the robbery of £2.61 million from a Royal Mail train travelling from Glasgow to London on the West Coast Main Line in the early hours of 8 August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn, near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England.
A gentleman thief, gentleman burglar, lady thief, or phantom thief is a stock character in fiction. A gentleman or lady thief is characterised by impeccable manners, charm, courtesy, and the avoidance of physical force or intimidation to steal, and often has inherited wealth. They steal not only to gain material wealth but also for the thrill of the act itself, which is often combined in fiction with correcting a moral wrong, selecting wealthy targets, or stealing only particularly rare or challenging objects.
Jayne Mansfield was an American actress and Playboy Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s, Mansfield was known for her numerous publicity stunts and open personal life. Although her film career was short-lived, she had several box-office successes, and won a Theatre World Award and Golden Globe Award, and soon gained the nickname of Hollywood's "smartest dumb blonde."
Buster is a 1988 British romantic crime comedy-drama based on events from the Great Train Robbery, starring Phil Collins and Julie Walters.
The Walsh Street police shootings were the 1988 murders of two Victoria Police officers: Constables Steven Tynan, 22, and Damian Eyre, 20.
BMX Bandits is a 1983 Australian crime comedy action film directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith and starring Nicole Kidman.
Let Him Have It is a 1991 British drama film directed by Peter Medak and starring Christopher Eccleston, Paul Reynolds, Tom Courtenay and Tom Bell. The film is based on the true story of Derek Bentley, who was convicted of the murder of a police officer by joint enterprise and was hanged in 1953 under controversial circumstances.
John Francis Regis Toomey was an American film and television actor.
Edward Judd was a British actor.
Norman Rossington was an English actor best remembered for his roles in The Army Game, the Carry On films and the Beatles' film A Hard Day's Night.
Guy Edward Hearn was an American actor who, in a forty-year film career, starting in 1915, played hundreds of roles, starting with juvenile leads, then, briefly, as leading man, all during the silent era.
Dermot Walsh was an Irish stage, film and television actor, known for portraying King Richard the Lionheart in the 1962 television series Richard the Lionheart.
The October Man is a 1947 mystery film/film noir starring John Mills and Joan Greenwood, written by novelist Eric Ambler, who also produced. A man is suspected of murder, and the lingering effects of a brain injury he sustained in an earlier accident, as well as an intensive police investigation, make him begin to doubt whether he is innocent.
Thomas Marius Joseph Butler was a Detective Chief Superintendent in the Metropolitan Police in London. He was most notable for leading the team of detectives that investigated the Great Train Robbery in 1963. He never married and lived with his mother. Butler was arguably the most renowned head of the Flying Squad in its history. He became known as "One Day" Tommy for the speed with which he apprehended criminals and the "Grey Fox" for his shrewdness.
The Breaking Point is a 1961 second feature British crime film directed by Lance Comfort and starring Peter Reynolds, Dermot Walsh, Joanna Dunham and Lisa Gastoni.
Robbery Under Arms is a 1957 British crime film directed by Jack Lee and starring Peter Finch and Ronald Lewis. It is based on the 1888 Australian novel Robbery Under Arms by Thomas Alexander Browne who wrote under the pseudonym Rolf Boldrewood.
Mark of the Phoenix is a 1958 British 'B' drama film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Julia Arnall, Sheldon Lawrence and Anton Diffring. An American jewel thief comes into possession of a newly developed metal.
Richard the Lionheart was a British ITV television series which ran from 1961 to 1963, aimed at younger audiences.
The Great Plane Robbery is a 1940 crime-adventure B film directed by Lewis D. Collins. Collins was more often associated with directing serials for Universal and Columbia Pictures. It stars Jack Holt, Stanley Fields and Noel Madison. Though typical of the melodramas that Holt made after transitioning from silent screen epics, western and adventure films were his forte. Reviewer Hal Erickson found it ironic that Holt, who in real life had a fear of flying, starred in so many aviation-oriented films. It was written by Albert DeMond from a story by Harold Greene.
Tarnished Heroes is a 1961 British war film directed by Ernest Morris and starring Dermot Walsh and Anton Rodgers. It was produced by Danziger Productions.